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Former Tigers pitcher Jack Morris waves to the crowd before throwing out the first pitch of Game 3 of the American League Championship Series between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Yankees at Comerica Park in Detroit on Oct. 16, 2012. / Kirthmon F. Dozier/Detroit Free Press

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A few years ago, I was coaching a youth baseball team, and we played a tournament in Cooperstown, N.Y.

One afternoon, we took the boys to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

To be honest, I was afraid. I didnít know how it would go. The boys were all 12 years old -- the age of pimples and puberty. Itís an age when they are more apt to giggle at a fart than show any appreciation for history.

But those boys walked into the Hall of Fame like it was hallowed ground. They stood there, with looks of awe and excitement and amazement, staring at the exhibits and reading about the greatest players of all time.

"The greatest players of all time." Remember that phrase. It will be important later.

To those boys, a group of kids who love baseball, they could feel the majesty of the place. So when I think about the Hall of Fame, I think about that day and those kids.

And in my heart and in my mind, I say Jack Morris deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. Morris was part of my childhood. 1984. 35-5 start. Bless you, boys.

Morris received 67.7% of the vote. You need 75% to be elected. He will have one last chance to be elected next year.

For years, there have been people who argued that Morris did not belong in the Hall of Fame. They said he gave up too many runs. During his 18-year career, Morris gave up nearly four runs per nine innings.

But that misses the point.

Morris didnít care whether he won, 6-0 or 6-3. He would go to the mound and take the ball and snarl and challenge hitters and try to get another complete game. If he gave up a home run in a blowout, no big deal.

Morris pitched for 18 years and won 254 games. Thatís what Morris was about: winning games. He won four World Series rings, including in 1984. He was the winningest pitcher of the 1980s and a five-time All-Star.

And best of all?

He was clean.

Now, do you want to know the cruel twist of fate?

Maybe Morris didnít get in this year because there was so much focus on the first-time guys on the ballot. The cheaters.

Which brings us to the most complicated issue facing the baseball writers who vote for the Hall of Fame: What should they do about the steroid era?

This afternoon, the latest class of players was announced. And the players wereÖ crickets, crickets.

Nobody.

Not a single player was elected into the Hall of Fame.

Not Barry Bonds, one of the greatest hitters of all time. He is baseballís home run king, a seven-time MVP and a 14-time All-Star.

Not Roger Clemens, one of the greatest pitchers of all time. He has seven Cy Young Awards.

Clearly, they are two of the greatest players of all time. But they also are at the center of the steroid controversy.

I donít think players who are known steroid users should ever be elected. But here is the question that makes me feel uneasy: Where do you draw the line?

Do you have to see a needle in the arm? Do you need proof of a failed drug test? What if somebody says somebody used steroids? Is that enough?

This issue is not going away.

In the future, some scientist will come up with a new type of performance-enhancing drug. And the temptation to use performance-enhancing drugs wonít go away for the athletes, either.

The truth is, we donít know what is going on right now. Maybe there is already a new drug we donít know about.

Which brings me back to that hallowed ground.

This summer, my youngest son is going to Cooperstown to play in that same tournament. And I will be taking him to the Hall of Fame.

I wish he could see a plaque that honors Trammell.

I wish Jack Morris was in. Iíd love for my son to read about him.

But someday, I think players from the steroid era will get into the Hall of Fame.

They should get in with an asterisk that reads: ďThis player competed during the steroid era. We do not know what affect drugs may have played on his statistics. But this player was one of the greatest players of his era.Ē